And I Will Always Love you
by thesocialnetwork
Summary: Thalia, Luke and Nico love triangle and prequel to the Lightning Thief. Who did she truly choose? Please review so I can improve and continue this story!
1. Chapter 1

Not happening. This was not happening.

The Friday after Jason disappeared, I packed a sleeping bag, toothbrush and a backpack of my belongings. That was it. I didn't own much that was worth taking, but I figured at the time that it would have to do.

I couldn't stay here anymore. There was only so much I could take and I just _had _to leave. So at half past nine on a Friday night, I slipped out the door and began to run. It was that simple, everyone was too preoccupied with the High Tea party going on to notice so I seized the opportunity to escape. Even if it meant stumbling down the streets clutching the pair of heels Mom had forced me to wear and a backpack, still wearing my silk blouse top and dress pants (I had refused to wear a dress). Our neighbor, Mrs. Fitzgerald's Chihuahua, Arezzo, hissed at me as I shuffled past and I glared at it. Yes, it hissed. It was a weird dog and you'll find out soon enough why.

I don't remember which direction I was headed in exactly or where I was going, I just kept running. It was a matter of time before I suddenly realized I was being followed and my heart starting beating even faster, if that was even possible. Someone was following me. I could hear bushes rustling and shuffling footsteps behind me. Officially terrified, I picked up my speed but so did my stalker. Okay, I was completely _freaked _out now.

I could now feel their breath on my exposed back, hot and smelling of burnt toast. That's when I realized it wasn't someone following me. It was some_thing. _Emphasis on thing.

Mrs. Fitzgerald's Chihuahua, Arezzo. Under usual circumstances, I might have laughed - okay, no I would have given it a piece of my mind - but this was no ordinary situation. Arezzo had definitely grown overnight. And fast. It had a rippling, muscled body of a lioness, a goatlike face and a snake spouting from the end of its tail.

"Chimera."

I had no idea how I knew what _it _was. But that knowledge wasn't about to come in handy anytime soon. Not happening. This could not be happening.

I looked around me to see if anyone else had noticed this _monster _but the entire street was silent as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. I mean, it wasn't like I was literally about to become _toast. _

"Hello, neighbor," it growled, approaching closer.

"Gee, you're a hundred times bigger and uglier now," I blurted.

Oh good one, Thalia. There's a winning pick-up line for you in case you want to make friends next time.

Arezzo spat at me. Yes, it spat; a big glob of glowing molten rock-like liquid that I just managed to dodge in time. The poor birdbath that I had been standing next to wasn't so luck and I watched in disbelieving horror as it melted into a thick grey puddle of mush.

"Bad doggie. No. _No,_" I said; weakly waving a branch I had snapped off in the air.

I threw it in the opposite direction and the moment it bolted off for the stick, I ran. Faster than I ever had in my life.

"Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod..." I thought to myself as I sprinted through a small side street.

I heard a loud angry roar and something exploding in the distance somewhere and my heart skipped a beat. I picked up my pace but I knew I couldn't keep running at this speed for much longer, my legs were numb and I was certain my lungs were going to explode soon.

My eyes scanned my surroundings wildly, I had no idea where I was. I was in some kind of remote, deserted and slightly run down alleyway between two tall brick buildings which I not the slightest clue of where it led to. But no turning back now, I took a deep breath and started running again.

Then I stopped. So suddenly I almost tripped over myself out of nowhere a dark shadow, a silhouette of a man appeared at the end of alley, only a few metres away from me. His fists were clenched.

And one of them held a dagger.

A scream escaped from my lips and I almost _never _scream. But believe me, I was _freaked out. _Running away had been a terrible idea. Who would have thought that only ten minutes into my little escapade I would already have my life's share of near-death experiences?

I backtracked and scrambled in the other direction as the stranger got nearer.

I had only run ten or so metres when out of the corner of my eye, I glimpsed a red-hot fire ball falling from the roof of the brick building about to land on me.

I veered to the left and fell, scraping my legs against the concrete as it exploded only a metre away from where I had been.

I tried to stand up but the pain in my legs was almost unbearable. I was trapped. If I went back the other direction I would probably end up with a knife in my back and if I went the other direction, Arezzo here, would turn me into fireworks. Either way I was going to die a painful, horrible death so I chose fireworks.

Arezzo pounced down from the building. I could have sworn it was grinning as it approached me.

I felt a strange tugging sensation in my stomach and down my spine, but then again, maybe I was just imagining things or feeling nauseous.

_'Oh gods, help me,' _were my last thoughts before it charged at me and I blacked out.

**Author's note: This is just the beginning of the Thalia/Nico/Luke love triangle and Camp Half-Blood prequel. I'll continue if I get lots of reviews. Who do you think is the mystery person? Who do **_**you **_**want Thalia to be with? Luke? Nico? Please leave a review with your opinion and something along the lines of what you want to read in this fanfic. :) I will do my best to assist all of your recommendations to the best of my abilities... Happy ready!**


	2. Chapter 2

At first I thought I must have been dreaming. Or died and gone to Heaven. A face as chiseled and perfect like that did not exist in nature and I could practically drown in his eyes, they were _that _blue. Some guy - some incredibly good-looking guy was cradling my head, gently in his arms. One hand carefully stroking the hair away from the cut on my forehead and the dabbing what felt like acid on the wound.

I suppressed a groan as the cut on my forehead prickled painfully, concentrating on his face instead to relieve the pain. All of a sudden he looked very, _very _familiar.

My stomach widened and I felt sick to the stomach.

He had been the dagger-carrying stranger from last night.

"It's you," I gasped, horrified.

"Hey, take it easy you've -"

My first instinct was to punch him in the face, but that didn't go too successfully, the guy had a jaw made out of iron or something. He winced and took a step back while I scrambled for the door. Or at least tried to.

I wavered, unsteadily on my feet and a sharp, pain short through my head. I started to see stars and braced myself for a hard landing. Instead I landed right in his arms. How romantic.

"Hey, hey. It's alright. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise," his tone was soothing and I wanted so badly to believe him but I knew what I seen. He gently pried my hands away from my head as if to examine the wound but I wasn't taking any chance. "You have to trust me. I'm - "

I felt a sharp tingle down my spine and all of a sudden my captor was hurled to the other side of the room where he lay, looking stunned and... Shocked. Literally.

His perfectly tousled hair was sticking up all over the place and I could have sworn I saw smoke tendrils rise from where he had touched me. Did I just do that?

He stood up and brushed himself off, still wearing that same stunned expression.

"How - ? What - ? W-Why?" He seemed at a loss for words. "How did you do that?"

"Um," I replied, intelligently.

Surprisingly he looked more angry than surprised. Almost as if he had seen this before...

"Why did you just do that?" He asked, his eyes flashing darkly.

I glared at him, accusingly. "Um... maybe because you tried to kill me? Oh wait, no that can't be it..."

"I was trying to help you!"

"By sticking a knife in my back?"

"By - _what?_" He looked amused, then angry, then confused and then... oh I don't know.

I laughed, in spite of myself. "Yeah and it's not like coming at someone with a dagger in the middle of the night looks threatening at all."

"I was defending myself!"

"Oh, because I look _really _scary, right?"

He gave me a look.

"Okay, don't answer that question. But it wasn't like I was doing anything!"

"You were running at me with a stick in your hand! Some kind of religious ritual or something?"

"I - oh. Oh that."

Okay, things kind of made sense now. Well, sort of. But it still didn't explain why he was carrying around a dagger hanging around an alley so late at night. Then again, I was kind of being a hypocrite doing the same thing, only with a stick instead of a dagger.

"I can explain," I began.

"You can?" He cocked an eyebrow, quizzically.

I opened my mouth then closed it again. I didn't how to. How was I supposed explain Arezzo; the goat-headed, lion bodied, snake-tailed giant Chihuahua? How did I even know what happened last night was real?

"No, not - not really," I admitted.

He nodded darkly as if he understood and an awkward silence fell between us.

"Look I'm really sorry about -"

"Forget it," he cut me off attempting to smile. "What was in the past was in the past right?"

I shakily - and painfully - got up, brushing myself off and took a step towards him. He leaned against the door frame and shoved his hands in the pockets of his ripped jeans looking unsure as to what to do next.

"Hi," I said, it was all I could think of. I extended a hand - albeit a slightly cut up one; "My name is Thalia."

**Author's note: Any tips on Luke's personality so far? And Nico's for future reference?**


	3. Chapter 3

**One year later…**

Maybe I was just imagining things but now I was almost certain that we were being followed. Actually I was completely certain we were being followed. I could have sworn I had seen those two cheerleaders before and now they were making their way towards us, quickening their pace with each step.

"Luke," I said, giving him a meaningful look.

I didn't need to say anymore. He took one glance at the two uniformed cheerleaders making their way towards us, still holding their pom-poms and understood right away.

"Follow my lead," he whispered, grabbing my hand.

"Where are we -"

"Hush." He pointed at his ears. "They can hear us. One of the perks of supernatural abnormal hearing abilities. Just trust me."

I nodded and tried to keep up with his fast pace, teetering slightly in my inches-too-high heels that Luke had made me wear as part of my disguise. They were _killing _me. Still, I tried to look like I had practically been born in these as Luke led me into the busiest section of the diner right into a high school gathering. Just the breed of humans I had been trying to avoid my entire life.

"This way." Luke steered me sideways onto the fairy-light covered pavilion where dozens of high school couples were dancing to bad music and sipping spiked punch out of red cups. It was so tacky, I wanted to hurl. Still, at least we got rid of the cheerleaders. Temporarily.

Out of nowhere they suddenly appeared again and they didn't look like they were about to give up the chase anytime soon. I really hoped Luke knew what he was doing because several pairs of eager eyes were starting to look our way as the two cheerleaders charged towards us with growing scowls on their faces. Judging by the fierce expressions on their faces it looked like Luke and I were about to receive some kind of dramatic confrontation from two extremely pissed-off cheerleaders. This wasn't looking too good. I felt as if I had just walked onto the set of Gossip Girl or something.

"Luke, they're getting closer," I hissed. It was times like these where I wished Luke wouldn't act so calm and aloof.

The cheerleaders were literally a few feet away and they were scowling, showing all… fangs?

_Empousai. _

Luke seemed to realize it too. Empousai were the evil supernatural creatures responsible for all the incredibly bad vampire novels and movies we hear about today. Unfortunately, that was one of the more minor reasons why they were evil. Empousai were known to have lethally poisonous fangs and one bite could cost you a lifetime of pain.

Luke looked around desperately, losing that famous ego of his for a moment. Then he turned to look at me and just like that, I didn't feel so scared anymore.

Yeah, I know. Luke had that kind of effect on people sometimes. He could just look at you and no matter how bad things were he could make it feel like everything was alright again.

"Don't just stand there," I said, squeezing his hand a bit tighter. "Do something!"

His electric blue eyes locked with mine.

"Kiss me."

"What -"

He cut me off by gently pressing his lips to mine and wrapping his protective arms around my waist. His soft lips felt so perfect where they were right then and there. I closed my eyes, returning the kiss. Just when I felt like my head was about to explode, Luke pulled away breathlessly and cast a glance over my shoulder.

"They're gone," he whispered, gently removing my hands from where they were tangled up in his hair.

I felt my cheeks burn, as I realized that I might have gotten a bit _too _caught up in that kiss. My lips tingled where his had been only seconds ago and I tried not to look too flustered. In those few seconds I had completely forgotten all about the fact that we had almost had our heads ripped off by a pair of cheerleading vampires.

The few couples surrounding us were purposely averting their eyes with great effort. No one was staring at us now in fact everyone was trying _not _to.

"Well," I said, stupidly. "That worked."

Luke smirked. "What did I tell you?"

And just like that, cynical, egotistical Luke was back.


	4. Chapter 4

"Either you have a very forgettable face or I've never seen you around before," this guy was saying.

Um, ew. Just an hour ago I had seen him being led by the hand to some creepy dark corner by a pretty blonde and moments later, reappearing and smoothing the creases in his newly rumpled clothes. Gross, I was probably contracting some gross disease just by being within three feet of him right now.

"Are you always this stupid or are you just making a special effort today?" I snapped back.

I didn't even bother acknowledging his presence, my attention was on Luke who was standing in the corner of the room, laughing loudly at everything this bottle blonde, fake tanned cheerleader was saying. It made me sick. You'd think that after our previous escape he would have learnt to stay away from cheerleaders by now. Instead, Luke accepted an invitation to this party at the Lotus Casino and even suggested we stay and 'blend in' for a while. It was just an excuse so he could chat up the pretty blonde cheerleader who invited him in the first place. Not that I cared or anything.

"Don't let your mind wander; it's far too small to be let out on its own," his voice echoed in my ear. What did he know? What Luke did wasn't my concern. I was simply… looking in his direction.

I turned to glare at my offender and fire a string of insults when I faltered.

Smirking back at me was the most incredibly good-looking guy I had ever laid eyes on. He was almost better looking than Luke. Okay, _much _better looking than Luke because it's not as if I have ever found Luke attractive at any point in my life… He had piercing dark brown eyes, tousled dark hair and a face that almost hurt to look at.

He chuckled. "I'm very multi-talented: I can talk and annoy the hell out of you at the same time."

"I'm impressed," I replied, refusing to smile at his dry humour even though I could feel a smile working its way onto my face. "I've never met such a small mind inside such a big head before."

"I will defend, to your death, my right to my opinion." He didn't even have the good grace to look embarrassed. He nudged his head in the direction of Luke being led onto the dancefloor by Blondie. "Is that your boyfriend over there?"

"No," I said, a bit too loudly.

Luke looked over Blondie's shoulder where they were romantically slow dancing and mouthed; _everything alright?_

I nodded, my stomach recoiling at the sight before turning back to finish verbally sparring with the good-looking jerk. "I used to think that you were a colossal pain in the neck. Now I have a much lower opinion of you."

He simply looked amused. "You know, I've come across rotting bodies that are less offensive than you are," he said, laughing at his own joke.

"Are you always this stupid or are you making a special effort today?"

He silenced himself when he caught my soul-destroying glare and struggled to keep a straight face. "Sorry," he apologized. "Personal joke."

We stood where we were for a second in a strangely comfortable silence. As much as this stuck-up, thick-as-a-wall, obnoxious guy annoyed me, I actually _enjoyed _his company. I almost forgot about Luke and that dim-witted, pumpkin colored cheerleader for a second. Even if every muscle in that well-toned chest of his screamed _player._

I glanced over at Luke who was beaming as Pumpkin reached over and touched his arm.

"Look," I said, finally breaking the silence. "Do you want me to accept you as you are, or do you want me to lie to myself and pretend to like you?"

He grinned. "The second option actually sounds pretty good. Let's start over." He extended a hand. "Hi, I'm Nico di Angelo and I like you. People say I've got no taste -"

"Clearly," I interceded, nodding my head in the direction of the pretty blonde he had been chatting up before.

"But," he interrupted, holding up his hands in surrender. "I like you."

What kind of pick-up line was that? Disappointing, really.

"And clearly, no brain in that big head of yours either," I commented, shaking my head.

Nico cocked a brow, looking amused. "I get told a lot that females generally like to think they're the smart ones, so I'm just going to play along with it."

"Oh, sorry. Let me clarify," I snapped. "You do have a brain-"

"Ah," Nico nodded, meaningfully although I could see a mischievous glint in those eyes.

"Only it's located in your pants," I continued.

"Sure thing, chicken wing," Nico retorted, unfazed. "I trust your better judgment to know those things."

"That's why it's so microscopically small that the Hubble telescope would struggle to find it," I fired back. "There. You have just discovered the meaning of life."

Nico was silent and I gauged his expression for any form of emotion.

Damn, had I gone too far this time?

Then he burst out laughing.

"Oh my gods," he spluttered, doubling over and clutching his stomach. "You're hilarious. Now, we just _have _to be friends. I won't take no for an answer."

"For a guy who reeks of alcohol, has no standards and a brain the size of a parasite. I'm flattered you want to be my friend."

He finally got a grip on himself and the cocky grin was there once more. "So, _friend,_" he replied, leaning forward. "You haven't told me what your name is yet."

I looked down unable to hide the smile on my face.

"Chicken wing it is then," he shrugged. "Or maybe chickie or nugget. Get it? Like chicken nuggets- hey what in Hades was that for?"

I whacked him on the arm hard and recoiled wincing at how hard his bicep turned out to be. Geez, he had arms made out of steel.

Nico continued to look amused. And smug.

I wanted to punch that smile off his face but he probably had a jaw made out of iron too.

His grin disappeared when he realized I wasn't smiling anymore. "Hey, I'm sorry. That was out of line. Is your hand okay?"

Before I could protest he grabbed my hand and I felt my skin static with electric currents where he touched me. Okay, _now _this was getting weird.

"I'm fine," I said. "Really."

I took a step back to give myself some distance. Only that wasn't necessary. Suddenly, Nico had been flung halfway across the room and this time it wasn't me.

It was Luke.


	5. Chapter 5

Luke drew his fist back punching Nico's face repeatedly rendering Nico's face in different shades of blue and purple. It took me a second to grasp what was going on. I had never in my life seen Luke like this.

_"What in the name of Hades do you think you're doing Luke?" _I screamed, shoving him backwards, sending him flying into a table filled with food.

Okay, that probably wasn't the smartest way to direct the attention away from the situation but I was so furious at Luke, I really didn't care.

"What am I doing?" Luke yelled back. Several girls scrambled to help him to his feet. "That guy was about to - to -" his voice shook with rage.

"To _what?" _I demanded.

"You know what I'm talking about!" he exploded. "That guy," he jabbed a finger in Nico's direction. "Was coming onto you, _you _punched him and I came over to _help _you."

"Oh-ho! You've helped me enough. _Luke._" I seethed. "_I _punched him because I was being an idiot and he was only checking if my hand was alright - "

"How romantic!" Luke sneered.

"Not as romantic as your hormone-induced, grinding session with Pumpkin face over there!" I retorted.

Luke flinched as though I had just punched him.

"I heard that, _skank_!"

"Thalia's a friend. Don't you dare call her that!" Luke snapped at Pumpkin.

"So _that's _your name," Nico croaked, reverting the attention back to himself.

"You little…" Luke clenched his fist and -

"Oh no you don't!" A dark haired girl suddenly appeared out of nowhere and shoved Luke right back into the table. "Lay another hand on my brother and I'll break you in half."

"She's not kidding," Nico said weakly.

"You want me to add another shade of black and blue to your face as well?" she snapped.

Nico cocked his head as if to ponder. "Maybe, a purple. It'll make me look more tough -" his eyes widened once he saw her flying towards him. "I'm kidding. Kidding! Joking."

I liked this girl already.

I shook my head in confused and shocked wonder. "Gods, Luke. What the _hell _is wrong with you?" I yelled after him the same time as Nico's sister said:

"Hey, goldilocks! I'm not done with you yet!"

She started to chase after him and stopped to glare at me.

Okay, maybe I didn't like her _that _much yet.

"If you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from him," she hissed, turning around to pummel Luke.

"Bianca!" Nico groaned.

"Not another word, Nico!"

I stood there awkwardly, staring at the impressive bruises starting to form on Nico's face.

"Like what you see, chickie?" In spite of how bet up he was, Nico still hadn't lost the ego.

"You wanna lend me a hand? Friend?" he tried to crookedly smile and grimaced.

I bent down beside him as the crowd began to dissipate.

He winced. "How's the hand?"

"Better than your face," I muttered, gently dabbing his face with a napkin.

Another grimaced smile.

"Sorry about… my other friend," I said finally, trying to break the uncomfortable silence. "I don't know what's up with him today. He's acting - "

"Like a jealous boyfriend?" Nico suggested, coyly. His expression faltered when he saw my withering glare and silenced himself. "Sorry."

My eyes flickered to his briefly. "That's okay. I'm sorry about punching you."

"You call that a punch?"

"Would you like another demonstration?"

Silence.

I continued cleaning his bruised and bloodied face gently, feeling his penetrating blue eyes on me.

"You know," he said, clearing his throat. "I made my lip bleed on purpose."

I looked at him, quizzically.

"So you could kiss it better," he whispered, leaning closer.

I clenched my fists and from the corner of my eye I could see Luke limping back into the room with one arm slung around Pumpkin for, so called, support. Bianca had given him some impressive bruises around the eyes and the look in his eyes was murderous.

I felt my anger flare up once again. And then I did something that surprised even me.

I kissed Nico.


	6. Chapter 6

"Wow," Nico exhaled, pulling back.

"Yeah," I agreed, struggling to breathe myself. "That was some first kiss…"

The look on Bianca's face was murderous but that was nothing compared to the hurt and disgust on Luke's face.

"_That _was your first kiss?" Nico asked, his expression softening all of a sudden.

Suddenly, I felt very torn. I thought of my kiss with Luke and how amazing it had been, however fake and how almost straight after, he was pursuing some other blonde cheerleader without even a glance in my direction. "Yeah," I said, quietly not daring to meet Luke's intense gaze.

"Thalia, look at me."

Nico cupped my face in his hands gently forcing me to look him in the eye. The look on his face was so different to the cocky, obnoxious guy I had just punched a second ago and I found it incredibly hard to breathe.

"Thank you for being honest with me," he murmured and leaned in again.

I closed my eyes bracing myself, only to feel Nico's soft lips land on my forehead.

He helped me up to my feet and then pulled me in a tight embrace.

"Trust me," he whispered in my ear, causing shivers to jolt down my spine. "I'm dying to kiss you again but I don't want to do it here. Not like this."

And then he was gone.

…

"Why the _Hades _did you just do that?" I yelled at Luke once we were back in our hotel room.

I had never been one to keep the silent treatment. Patience wasn't my strongest virtue.

"_Why? _Because he was mauling you right in front of me!" Luke seethed. There was something about him that seemed off. His eyes seemed unfocused and not like his usual controlled self.

"You've been drinking," I said, accusingly. There was no point in attempting to talk sense in him now.

"Of course, I have," Luke shot back. "How else was I supposed to stop myself from thinking about you? How else was I supposed to stop myself stepping in while the two of you were dancing and make a fool of both of us?"

"Well you did that last part just _fine_!" I snapped, trying to sound angrier than I felt.

There was something about what Luke said that made me falter slightly.

I took a deep breath. "What does it matter to you who I kiss anyway?"

"Why?" Luke shouted, his ice blue eyes burning a hole into mine. "Why?" he repeated, again more softly as if he were unsure of himself.

I wanted answers. "Yes, Luke. Why?"

"Because -" he hesitated and took in a sharp breath as if every word was killing him. "Because you drive me crazy, Thalia. I've been crazy in love with you since you threw that punch at my face the first time we met -" he laughed, mirthlessly "and some crazy side effects your punches have on guys like me. I can't bear the thought of you with another guy, Thalia. I would gladly to jail and back if I found out any guy tried to make a move on you…" he stumbled over his words, trying to catch himself.

He sounded so broken and vulnerable. If I couldn't breathe before when I thought Nico was going to kiss me again, I was positively hyperventilating now.

I looked holding onto the wall for support as he looked at me with those desperate albeit beautiful eyes. I had to keep reminding myself that he was drunk and not thinking straight. I was too scared to think otherwise.

"How much did you drink?" I said, finally. I couldn't look him in the eye because I was scared as to what I saw or what _he _saw in my eyes if I did.

"Enough," he chuckled, moving in to wrap his arms around me.

"Don't be a hypocrite, Luke." I wriggled free from his grasp. "You were about to kill Nico for just speaking to me a second ago."

"He doesn't know you like I do."

I sighed. "C'mon, we're both tired. Let's just get you in bed and talk about this in the morning, okay?"

"That's more like it," he grinned, leaning on me for support as I steered him towards the bedroom.

I hit him in the gut. "I'm not in the mood for jokes, Luke."

He collapsed on the bed and I pulled the covers over him. The whole time he didn't take his eyes off me and I could feel him staring at me as I pretended to be occupied with tucking him in.

"Thalia…" he whispered, refusing to let go of my hand. "Please don't go. Stay…" he sucked in a breath. "Everyone leaves me, Thalia. Don't be one of them. Stay with me…"

I stroked his hair, reassuringly trying not to show how he had me in a near panic. At the same time I felt heartbroken. It was true, Luke had lost almost everyone. He had never met his dad and his mom was mentally unstable. We had been running away together for over a year now and I knew him better than anyone else. Poor guy, he had it pretty tough for him but it hurt even more to hear him say it out loud regardless of the circumstances.

"I won't," I murmured. "I won't leave you, ever."

Luke suddenly looked like a little kid again. He no longer looked eighteen as so many often mistook him for. He looked young, scared and vulnerable. "You promise?"

I hooked my pink around his. "I promise, Luke."

And then both his arms were around me in a childish but protective embrace. He held onto me like he wasn't ever going to let go and in turn I held onto him just as tightly, hoping to shut out the guilt. This felt so right and I didn't want to ever let go.


	7. Chapter 7

Someone once asked me what my favourite sound was. At the time I wasn't really sure. If they had asked me what my _least _favourite sound was, I could probably answer them right away. There was a lot of sounds I hated. Like the sound of sharp fingernails being dragged across a blackboard for example or squealing cheerleaders or the sound of Justin Bieber falling off his ladder on the way to puberty. But my favourite sound? Right now, more than anything, it was the sound of Luke sleeping. Weird, huh? There was something strangely comforting in the sound of his heavy, even breathing and for the first time in years I slept without any nightmares or strange dreams. For the first time, I fell asleep with my head resting against Luke's chest, listening to the steady pulse of his heartbeat…

I woke up to the same sound I fell asleep to. My head was still resting on his chest and I realized that I had fallen asleep hugging Luke like a giant soft toy. _Oh my gods._

I yelped silently, realizing that he was still asleep and tried to gently untangle myself.

_Oh my gods, _I kept thinking. _I just slept with Luke Castellan._

Well, not in _that _context, but you know what I mean.

I looked at his peaceful sleeping face. His perfectly chiselled face and slightly pouting lips. At some point in the night he must have taken his shirt off and sunlight cast shadows on those defined abdominals. I used to think Luke was just a cute pretty boy type guy. He was and still is, I mean. But I never really noticed how handsome he really was.

I clutched my head and tried to shake out my sleep-induced stupor. Gods, what was wrong with me? There was no way I could like Luke _that _way. He was Luke. He was my mentor, best friend and a brotherly/sometimes fatherly figure. No, there was no way. I was probably still reeling from the effects of last night's pina coladas. Yes, that must be it. Or I'm probably still tired or something. No, no way was I going to think for even a _second _that Luke was handsome.

I carefully slipped out from under Luke's arm and tiptoed to the bathroom. I realized with a pang how empty I felt all of a sudden without Luke's protective arms wrapped around me. I shook my head again and then I looked in the mirror and almost gasped in horror.

I looked like Hell. Or better yet, _Hades. _

My hair was a complete tangled mess of curls and eyeliner was smudged across my eyelids. I looked like I just came out of drug-induced rehab. I looked like Taylor Momsen.

I tried to clean myself up in vain. Never before did I care much about how I look and now as I frantically combed through my hair, I realized that my painstaking dyed pink hair had almost completely faded to its original midnight black blue colour. Weird huh? The fact that my little brother Jason and I had both been born with dark black blue hair as the result of screwed up genetics. I had always been pretty embarrassed about it and since I was five, I had dyed it almost every colour of the rainbow, every colour except _blue._

"Thalia?"

I jumped with a start and almost skidded into the door.

It was Nico.

He was wearing a tight fitting black _Rage Against the Machine _t-shirt and dark jeans. His expression varied somewhere between confused and concerned.

"Uh, are you okay?"

"Okay?" I screeched, in a low hiss. The last thing I wanted to do was to wake Luke up. "You sneak into my bathroom in the early hours of dawn and just to ask if I'm _alright_?"

Wow, my sarcasm was back already.

"Thalia, it's past midday."

"Oh, right," I motioned for him to step outside my room to talk. Luke was still sleeping and I didn't want him eavesdropping anytime soon.

"You didn't turn up to breakfast," Nico continued, gazing at me steadily. "So, I decided to come up and check on you."

"Yeah, well unfortunately I'm only half-dead," I shrugged, trying to match his nonchalant tone. I didn't want him to see that I was touched by the fact that he took the effort to come and check up on me. Then my eyes narrowed. "How did you know what room I was in?"

Nico cracked a slightly crooked smile. There was still a trace of a cut on his lip but it had almost completely healed. "It's a small world. I've lived here for most of my life so I know my way around."

I shifted, uncomfortably as an awkward silence fell between us. "Listen about yesterday night…"

I waited for Nico to interrupt with some lascivious or mildly inappropriate comment but he remained silent and just kept staring at me, weirdly so I decided it was my cue to make a run for it. "Actually, never mind. I'm sorry. I should, uh, go."

I turned to re-open the door to my room when Nico grabbed me by the arm, forcing me to turn and face him again.

"I came here to ask if you wanted to go out for dinner tonight," he said, abruptly.

Now it was my turn to smile. "You're asking me out on a date? Nico diAngelo is asking a girl out on a _date_?"

"Well, yeah," Nico shrugged. "I don't find guys attractive and I've never tried dating one. Don't plan on anytime soon either."

I narrowed my eyes and then realized how close we were standing. His face was only inches away from mine and it felt like any moment now he was going to kiss me again. I clenched my fist, I was not planning to relive the humiliation from the previous night. And there was no way I was going to fall for Nico's stupid, 'bad boy' charms. Nuh-uh.

"The good news for you however," Nico continued. "Is that I am well experienced in the dating girls department so you don't have to worry about fending gay guys off me as well as girls."

_Well experienced? _

I felt kind of hazy looking into his ink blue eyes while he was standing so close and forced myself to look away.

"Is this some kind of joke?"

"Aren't you the friendly type this morning?" Nico laughed, amiably. He didn't answer my question. "Come on, I'm trying to double my chances of kissing another good looking girl tonight. Just try and pretend to enjoy the conversation okay?"

I didn't speak.

"Come on, chickie. I feel kind of bad with how things ended with your, erm, acquaintance yesterday night so this is my humble way of making it up to you. Think about it: we can make it a double date. Besides, my sister, B really digs Mr. Thor lookalike. It's a win-win on both sides. He could potentially be attracted to her, she already is to him. And you know how the rest goes. This could work out just great."

I felt like he had just punched me in the gut. A double date? Luke and Bianca? He calls _this _a win-win situation? I mean sure, Bianca was kind of pretty. Okay she was _really _pretty. But she most definitely was _not _Luke's type. Right? I felt a hot surge of anger all of a sudden.

"No."

Nico furrowed his brow as if he were contemplating his sanity. Gods, had no girl ever had the decency to say no to this guy before? I guess there was a first time for everything.

"No," I repeated, trying to keep my voice even. "Not interesting," I muttered, turning away.

Nico, however, wouldn't let go of my arm. "Ah, I get it. You know if you want to make Captain America jealous, you could just ask y'know."

"Jealous?" I screeched. "You think I -"

I was so angry words escaped me and impulsively, my hand shot out and left an angry red mark across his face.

"Ow, chickie," Nico flinched. "What was that for?"

"What was that for?" I demanded, my voice rising with every word. This guy was fucking incredible. Did he not get the message? Gods, he really was fucking multi-talented. He could talk and annoy the complete hell out of me at the same time.

"Honestly, chickie," he said, looking confused now. "I have no idea why on gods earth you would do that."

Before I could fling back a sharp insult the door behind me was yanked open.

"Is there a problem here?"

Luke stood in the doorway, shirtless. With nothing but a towel across his waist. I knew from the slightly bunched up way it was folded that he was wearing his boxers underneath. He had purposely put on the towel just to spite Nico. And just to spite me. The bastard.

"Yeah, there is," I growled. "I'm looking right at it," I said, giving Nico my most hate-filled, withering, soul-destroying glare. Luke often joked I could give Medusa a run for her money with my glare and now, I realized he was half right.

Nico recoiled, his gaze shifting from Luke in his well-muscled, erm, entirety and me. He looked shocked, confused and apologetic even.

"You could have told me…" he said, looking hurt now.

"What? No! He's not my -"

"I think we're done here," Luke said, in a low tone without keeping his eye off Nico. He put an arm around me and I shrugged him off.

"He is _not _my… " I glared at Luke.

How did things get so messed up in less than fifteen minutes. Wow, record timing Thalia. Well done.

I gave the two of them my most withering look of resentment and then pushed past Luke slamming the door shut. Then it occurred to me that I had just left two infuriatingly handsome albeit confused looking boys who _hated _each other locked outside the door of the hotel room. Together.

Smart move, Thalia. _Smart _move.

Burying my head in the pillow, I screamed into it angrily.


End file.
